


Peace

by EllieRose101



Category: Serenity (2005)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-30 20:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19411099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieRose101/pseuds/EllieRose101
Summary: Wash may be gone, but Zoe won’t be left alone.





	1. Chapter 1

Mal walked into Zoe’s quarters unannounced. “Just what is that?”

She tried to hide the test before realizing it was pointless and holding it out to the captain. He knew exactly what it was before he asked. It was the reason he came to see her.

He pulled a face. “I ain’t touching it.”

“You’re such a baby!” exclaimed Zoe.

Mal raised his eyebrows at her poor choice of words and waited for his first mate’s real reaction to hit. “Oh, god,” she said, tossing the test into the corner and covering her face.

After a few moments of silence, Mal asked, “Were you trying?”

She nodded.

“Did Wash know that?”

She glared.

“It’s just…” he continued, “I seem to recall a month-long argument all across my boat about how all our lives were too dangerous to involve children.”

“He wanted them, if our lives had been different.”

“And you wanted them either way.”

Zoe wiped a hand across her forehead. “Why did I think this was a good idea?”

Mal shrugged. “You were in love. Guess it’s natural.”

Not letting him have the high ground a moment longer, Zoe turned the conversation around. “Speaking of love…” she began.

The captain immediately began to back away. “Good talkin’ to you,” he said, stumbling at the base of the ladder.

“How are you and Inara getting along these days?” Zoe continued to press. “Between you two and Simon and Kaylee this place is almost romantic.”

“Yeah, an’ Jayne and his hand. Goodnight, Zoe!”

She smiled at her boss’ getaway, then rubbed her still flat belly. “You’re gonna have _quite_ the time growing up here.”


	2. Chapter 2

_Six Years Later_

Tightly clutching her most prized possessions to her chest, Zoe braced herself before striding into her son’s quarters. She smiled at the sight of him playing fighter pilot on his console. _Just like his father_ , she thought wistfully. It was the biggest compliment she could ever bestow upon him.

She took a breath. “Hoban?”

He didn’t look up. “Yeah, Mom?”

She knelt beside him. “Hoban, can you turn that off, please?”

“Aww, Mom, do I have to? I’m winning.”

Zoe didn’t answer, knowing there was no need. After a few more moments of Hoban carrying on playing, he gave up trying to ignore her and pressed the power button.

He turned to face her. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, sweetie. Now, I know your birthday was a few months ago, but–”

He cocked an eyebrow at her, giving her pause.

“What?”

“Why is it I always get presents four months after my birthday?”

_He noticed. Of course he did. Clever boy, just like…_

Zoe swallowed. It was time. “You remember all those stories Uncle Mal used to tell you?”

“About my dad? Sure. He seemed like a cool guy.”

Zoe smiled again, but it was bittersweet. It took a lot of effort for her mouth not to cave in on itself. “Your father was an amazing man.”

Hoban frowned. “Why do you never talk about him?”

_Because it hurts. Because I miss him. Because if I think about him too much I won’t be able to carry on._

“Because it hurts,” she admitted out loud. When Hoban’s frown only deepened she reached out and ran a hand through his hair. “You’ll understand one day.”

He nodded, then his eyes finally landed on the items she was holding. “Are they for me?”

“Yes.”

He hesitated slightly with the next question, but eventually let it loose: “Were they his?”

Zoe could only nod. It took every bit of strength in her body to hold out her arms and hand her husband’s beloved toy dinosaurs over to her boy, but she did it.

“Take good care of them.”

“I will, Mom,” he vowed, before getting up to go play with them elsewhere.

The moment he was gone from the room, Zoe felt herself begin to break down, but suddenly Hoban was back in the doorway, looking at her. She wiped roughly at her eyes. “What is it, sweetie?”

She’d vowed long ago never to cry in front of him; never to let him know how having him in her life gave her meaning, but also the harshest sorrow.

After a few moments of silently watching her, Hoban walked back into the room, handed one of the dinosaurs back to his mom, and then threw his arms around her – still with a toy in each hand.

“I think dad still misses you too,” he whispered into her hair. “You can keep this one, to watch over you.”

Zoe couldn’t respond anymore. Nor could she hold back her tears. She just held her son tighter and thought to herself: _My boy is so loving and he looks out for me, even when I hide my feelings. He can see straight through me._

_Just like his father._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The timeline I’m going with is this:  
> Zoe got pregnant a month before the movie is set, meaning she was one month gone (roughly) when Wash died. She found out a few weeks after that (in part one of this fic).  
> Hoban was born eight months after his dad’s death, meaning he was four months old when the first anniversary rolled around and the anniversary therefore falls four months after each of the boy’s subsequent birthdays.


End file.
